Nat Barr and Sunrise experts make stunning claim about doped-up Chinese swimmers after country tried to blame Australia for failed drug tests

China’s Olympic swimming campaigns are “based on cheating,” according to presenter Neil Mitchell, who said the steroids found in two swimmers were due to the import of Australian beef.

The pair tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs in 2022, but the results were not made public. They were later cleared when the Chinese Anti-Doping Agency concluded that the drugs were most likely ingested via contaminated Australian beef burgers.

“They protect them. The Chinese system is designed around cheating… There were 23 [competitors] in Tokyo and 11 here [in Paris] “under suspicion,” Mitchell told Sunrise’s Nat Barr on Thursday, after the presenter said “it feels like the Chinese are treated differently” when it comes to doping in sport.

The panel discussion came shortly after Kyle Chalmers was defeated in the 100m freestyle by Chinese star Pan Zhanle, who broke his own world record to win gold by a massive one second over the Australian.

Amanda Rose, founder of Western Sydney Women and also a member of the panel, said it appeared the rules around banned substances were not being applied equally to all countries participating in the Olympic Games.

“I don’t know if this is a diversionary tactic of, ‘Hey, we got caught, let’s blame the Australians’ because we’re a smaller country.

“It seems like if one country is tested, that country gets off scot-free, while other countries get a harsher penalty… I think the testing of athletes at the Olympics needs to be streamlined and perhaps even controlled.”

Mitchell agreed, pointing to the case of Australian swimmer Shayna Jack, who tested positive for the anabolic drug Ligandrol in 2019 during an out-of-competition test by the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority.

The panel discussion came shortly after Kyle Chalmers was defeated in the 100m freestyle by Chinese star Pan Zhanle, who was a huge second ahead of the Australian.

China has blamed Australia for two of the country’s swimming stars failing drug tests in 2022

“She was banned. Her results were made public and she couldn’t compete for two years. This feels like the Chinese are being treated differently,” he said.

Mitchell said: ‘We’ve known for 50 years that these things happen… being naive and eating something without knowing you’re taking the drug is no excuse.

“I might go to McDonald’s and have a quarter pounder for breakfast. That might be a way to bounce around a little bit.”

He added that the ‘The real question was whether other athletes at the Paris Games would be happy to share the podium with Chinese swimmers.

Are they doing a MacHorton? Are they making a statement without getting on stage to share it with a drug dealer?

“It hurts their moment, but I would like to see an honest protest from the other athletes who are being cheated.”

A Chinese study found that stars were getting a steroid from eating burgers made from Australian beef (stock image)

In 2019, Horton received a standing ovation in the athletes’ village after protesting controversial Chinese star Sun Yang’s 400m freestyle victory at the world swimming championships.

Olympic champion Horton did not shake hands with his arch-rival after being demoted to silver in the 400-meter freestyle and refused to stand with him on the podium during the opening night of the championship in Gwangju, South Korea.

Horton was unhappy that Sun, who had already served a doping ban in 2014, was allowed to compete before the Court of Arbitration for Sport had a hearing.

The hearing was held following allegations that the ten-time world champion smashed a container containing vials of blood with a hammer during a confrontation with testers.

He was later suspended for four years and three months for the incident.

US breaststroke champion Lilly King later said Horton was greeted with applause by his fellow competitors when he returned from the pool after refusing to salute Sun.

Mack Horton (left) refused to take the stage after being defeated by controversial Chinese star Sun Yang (center) in 2019

The latest reports of two Chinese swimmers testing positive for a hardcore steroid in 2022, one of whom is part of the Chinese team in Paris, appeared in the New York Times.

The publication claimed that the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) had reservations about the contaminated hamburger theory, but decided not to appeal China’s decision not to suspend the swimmers.

“The politicization of Chinese swimming continues with this latest attempt by the United States media to suggest misconduct by WADA and the broader anti-doping community,” WADA said in a lengthy statement on Tuesday.

“As we have seen in recent months, WADA finds itself unfairly caught in the middle of geopolitical tensions between major powers, but has no mandate to participate in them.”